i ask this just cause in years past the FAQ use to be a collaboration of a bunch of people.
and i noticed that more and more stuff in here just has my name on it, which makes it kinda loose something if the whole community isnt chucking stuff in IMHO.

here why dont i do this, ill go snag the patch notes and shuffle it all together and make it look pretty and ill post it here, if you wanna come then check it and give the nod ill then slip it over into the FAQ and we will call that project done, eh?

ok.this may get messy.what im gonna do is cut and past the notes from pub 66-67 as those where the beginning.them im gonna change the changes that came in with pub 68.and the little tweaks that came in after.

im hoping this, while it can get messy, will save me writing it all from scratch.hehe

k, here we go!

Bard Skill Timeout reduced to 8 Seconds, Having a bard mastery reduces all Bard Skill Timeouts by 1 second, and an additional 1 second for the Skill of the mastery focus.

Bard Mastery System – NPC’s can be found in the Music Conservatory in Fel and Tram

Bard players will be able to select one of three areas of bard mastery, each pertaining to one of the main barding skills. The mastery abilities will be based on the players’ skill in the associated area, but will NOT affect the current way the skill is used nor how the players interact with that skill.

Choosing / Obtaining a mastery:

Players will perform a quest obtainable from the quest givers in the Music Conservatory.
Players will be rewarded upon quest completion with a Spellbook containing the mastery abilities.
Players will be able to switch between the three different masteries by toggleing the Bard Mastery Book once every 10 minutes.

Mastery ability initiation.
Once players have chosen a mastery, the abilities are freely usable at any time and only have as requirements the skill and mana costs.

Mastery abilities:
Party must remain within range of the Bard to remain under the spellsong effects.
Bards may be interrupted when they receive damage while using their abilities.
A bard can have both their mastery spell songs active at the same time.
Abilities do not stack with themselves.
All abilities require upkeep dependent on how many are being affected by the ability.
Abilities will not check for Criminal flagging, so beware of your Party members.
Bards with secondary bard skills above GM (Real Skill) will receive a slightly reduced mana cost for spell song upkeep.
Bards with a mastery get a 5% bonus to their success chance at using any bard skills, and a 10% bonus to using the skill of their mastery focus.
All bard songs receive a slight bonus to their effects if the bard has additional bard skills over GM(Real Skill).
For the primary skills (Music + Mastery Focus Skill)
You get 1 point per 10 skill points above 90. (and since the minimum requirements is 90, you automatically are starting at 2 points - one from each skill)
So from musicianship and your mastery skill you have up to 8 points.
Your secondary skills (other bard skills than your mastery skill) you get 1 point per 10 points above GM, so thats a potential of 6 points.
The weighting of those points vary by spellsong and may be a factor or exponential.
For example:
Inspire would be weighted at 2 per point of primary skills and 1 per point of secondary skills.
So thats (8 * 2) + (6 * 1) for a 4x Bard to HCI/SDI -> 22%

Provocation: Title Exhilarator (These will be considered beneficial actions)

VIPStratics Veteran

All Bard Skill Timeout reduced to 8 Seconds.
Having a bard mastery further reduces all Bard Skill Timeouts by 1 second (7), and an additional 1 second(6) for the Skill of the mastery focus.

Bard Mastery System – NPC’s can be found in the Music Conservatory in Fel and Tram

Bard players will be able to select one of three areas of bard mastery, each pertaining to one of the main barding skills. The mastery abilities will be based on the players’ skill in the associated area, but will NOT affect the current way the skill is used nor how the players interact with that skill.

Choosing / Obtaining a mastery:

Players will perform a quest obtainable from the quest givers in the Music Conservatory to receive a mastery spellbook.
Players will be able to switch between the three different masteries by toggleing the Bard Mastery Book once every 10 minutes.

Mastery ability initiation.
Once players have chosen a mastery, the abilities are freely usable at any time and only have as requirements the skill and mana costs.

Mastery abilities:
Party must remain within range(8) of the Bard to remain under the spellsong effects.
Spell songs remain in effect as long as the target is in range. Regardless of visibility or Line of Sight.
Spell songs can be de-activated by recasting them. Deactivating them is an instant cast time.
Bards may be interrupted when they receive damage while using their abilities.(In PvM interrupt chance scales with damage)
Mana upkeep cost is taken every 2 seconds.
A bard can have both their mastery spell songs active at the same time.
Abilities do not stack with themselves.(2 bards in party with same mastery ability active- first come first served)
All abilities require upkeep dependent on how many are being affected by the ability. (Cost increases by 1 per 5 affected. including mounts)
Abilities will not check for Criminal flagging, so beware of your Party members.
Ability cast speed is affected by Faster Casting peroperty (Cap = 4)
Bards with secondary bard skills above GM (Real Skill) will receive a slightly reduced mana cost for spell song upkeep.(-1 per additional skill above GM)
Bards with a mastery get a 5% bonus to their success chance at using any bard skills, and a 10% bonus to using the skill of their mastery focus.
All bard songs receive a slight bonus to their effects if the bard has additional bard skills over GM(Real Skill).
For the primary skills (Music + Mastery Focus Skill)
You get 1 point per 10 skill points above 90. (and since the minimum requirements is 90, you automatically are starting at 2 points - one from each skill)
So from musicianship and your mastery skill you have up to 8 points.
Your secondary skills (other bard skills than your mastery skill) you get 1 point per 10 points above GM, so thats a potential of 6 points.
The weighting of those points vary by spellsong and may be a factor or exponential.
For example:
Inspire would be weighted at 2 per point of primary skills and 1 per point of secondary skills.
So thats (8 * 2) + (6 * 1) for a 4x Bard to HCI/SDI -> 22%

Provocation: Title Exhilarator (These will be considered beneficial actions)

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